From and excellent post by the Gothamist:
In the wake of a federal judge criticizing the NYPD's videotaping procedures last week, I-Witness Video looks at what the NYPD actually uses to record public events and calls it "360 degrees of surveillance," best illustrated by what the police used during the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Officers used "lipstick cameras" which are easily concealed, as well as helicopters with "military-style infrared imaging." And Fuji lent the NYPD its BlimpCam, and I-Witness Video describes the blimpcam footage from August 27, 2004:
The first scene on the clip shows people from the antiwar group Not in Our Name lying on the grass in Central Park, spelling out a giant "NO" with their bodies. Every so often the camera operator focuses on some young women lounging nearby who do not seem to be part of the antiwar event. The hovering blimp cam seems almost to float above this tranquil scene. It might even be a pretty picture if it were not for the fact that we are viewing this all through what appears to be a military targeting scope superimposed on the frame...There are videos of each kind of surveillance, which we recommend you to check out - all the footage converges on the Critical Mass ride that resulted in hundreds of arrests. Photoblogger Mike Epstein from Satan's Laundromat was arrested and wrote about his experience.When the camera zooms out, what seems like half of the island of Manhattan comes quickly into focus. The blimp cam has a truly awesome depth of field and range...
The NYPD Fuji blimp continues downtown to Union Square Park where it floats above the assemblage of parkgoers and bicyclists gathering for the Critical Mass ride... A man stares directly up at the blimp, giving rise to the insight that staring directly at an aerial observation platform allows a perfect view of your face.
The NYC Camera Surveillance Project has mapped and located over 2,000 video cameras in Manhattan. As they note, spotting these cameras is a task far from over. As a resident of New York City, it has become tacitly accepted that we live in a 'police state' where many of our moves are documented. Although it may not be as bad as Orwell predicted in his masterpiece 1984, Manhattan and many other cities (especially London) is increasingly under surveillance both by private and public enterprises. The 'big brother' feel of this can and has lead to arrests of protesters who were exercising their First Amendment rights. Time will tell how invasive these cameras will get, but as many psychologists will tell you, the best way for people to feel comfortable with invading their privacy is to do it nice and slow so as to not alarm the populace.
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